There were a few firsts at Arizona's latest competition, Lead, Follow or Get Out of My Way Endurance Ride in McDowell Mountain Park this past November 19th. Mules are notoriously difficult to correctly fit boots. Their feet are narrower than a horse and trying to find a boot that is long enough, yet not too wide is difficult.

My Mule, Soldier, usesEasyboot Epicsand Easyboot Bares size 00 successfully with gaiters, however he needed something a bit different for his first 75 mile endurance ride. This ride had great footing with decomposed granite and some sand washes. The Original Easyboots work great on the trails when traveling at speed, but when you get in the sand washes, you get sand in the boots. Under normal conditions this is not a big deal, but when you are trying to make time in an endurance ride you don't want to fool around with taking the boots on and off to empty out the sand. I decided he needed to be fitted to a pair of Easyboot Glue-Ons.

The EasyBoot care team, consisting of Kevin Myers, Rusty Toth and Kevin Waters, came over to Soldier's trailer the Friday before the ride and fitted and glued boots. Kevin prepared the hooves and Rusty glued the boots. Soldier is the first mule this team has glued before and it was the owners first use of glue on boots. Soldier was a good customer and the boots went on without a hitch.

Throughout the ride Soldier moved along flawlessly and actually seemed to enjoy the added protection. For me, it was a joy to not even have to think about the boots or worry about the footing of the ride.